'Hot yoga' guru Bikram Choudhury insisted on doing business in bed

After a twoyearlong battle Minakshi lsquoMickirsquo JafaBodden a Los Angelesbased lawyer who had filed a sexual harassment case against hot yoga guru Bikram Choudhury in 2013 has finally received justiceOn Tuesday her ordeal came to a closure after a Los Angeles jury ordered Bikram Choudhury to pay nearly 65 million in punitive damages in addition to 924000 in compensatory damages after finding he had subjected her to harassment and retaliationIn 2013 Carla Minnard right and her firm helpedMinakshiJafaBodden file a lawsuit against Bikram Choudhury belowThe last three weeks have left JafaBodden exhausted but she feels vindicated ldquoMy daughter Alix and my brilliant and extraordinary legal team including Carla Minnard and Mark Quigley have been my support systemrdquo she told sunday midday in an email conversationCharming predatorldquoWhen I first arrived at Bikram Yoga in 2011 Bikram was quite charming as is the case with most predators It wasnrsquot long until I saw his dark side He would engage in inappropriate cruel harassing and sexist behaviour towards others including the constant use of abusive and profane language and sexual gesturesrdquo JafaBodden who joined his company as a legal advisor in 2011 recalledYoga guru Bikram Choudhury instructs his yoga class in a heated room in Beverly Hills California PicGetty ImagesAnd when she tried to curb to his rampant conduct it backfired ldquoWhen I advised him not to engage in sexual conduct with his yoga trainees he became abusive and would tell me that he would do lsquowhatever the f he wantedrsquo He also subjected me to unwanted sexual advances such as insisting on holding business meetings in his hotel suite on his bedrdquo says JafaBodden who was born in North East India JafaBodden studied in England before moving to the USMicki after the verdict in Downtown LADeath threatsIn 2013 JafaBodden was terminated from the job after she refused to coverup his sexual misconduct and refused to condone his ldquoillegal business practicesrdquoldquoI proceeded to engage lawyers to bring him to justice My attempts to get help from Rajashree Choudhury the vicepresident of the company and Bikramrsquos wife were met with additional threats and ominous warnings to lsquonot rock the boatrsquo and lsquothink of my daughterrsquo It was clear that Rajashree was going to do whatever she could to keep this information and complaints hidden from public viewrdquoBikram even had a message delivered to JafaBodden that he would have her deported and then ldquotaken carerdquo of in India ldquoI was very frightened as I know that Bikram has business contacts in India including a man called Som Mandalrdquo says JafaBodden These threats were reported to the authorities in CaliforniaLegal actionIn late 2013 JafaBodden approached Minnard Lawfirm who recommended that she file a suit that included claims for sexual harassment hostile work environment gender discrimination and retaliation ldquoWe knew that it would take an enormous amount of financial resources and perseverance to bring Mr Choudhury to the mat but Micki hung in there and saw it through She is an inspiration to us all as lawyers and it was an honour to represent her in this fight for justicerdquo said Carla Minnard founder of the firm whose team filed the case in June 2013Witnesses come forwardFinding witnesses in this case was not a challenging task ldquoThe challenge was to narrow down witnesses for the trial Many witnesses were initially fearful of Bikram Choudhury due to his reputation of menacing behaviour We zeroed down to 70rdquo said MinnardOne of their main witnesses was Robert Gilchrest a former attorney who confirmed that Micki had been subjected to constant demeaning and harassing conduct including having to sit in business meetings where Bikram regularly used profanity and also referred to women in vulgar and offensive terms ldquoHe routinely referred to women as lsquobhrsquo and ldquowherdquo Gilchrest confirmed that Bikram had confessed that he had raped a young student lsquoWhat am I to dorsquo he asked themrdquo said MinnardThe testimony of Petra Starke a former White House lawyer was also instrumental in the case ldquoStarke testified that she observed inappropriate sexual conduct by Bikram Choudhury multiple times including one instance where he brought a young teacher on a business trip and made her perform oral sex in a limousine while Starke and another associate were in the same carldquoHer home was broken into two days before the trial started Rajashree Choudhuryrsquos business card was left right in front of her computer monitor Starke testified in court that lsquothey wanted to send me a messagersquordquo said MinnardNot the truthBikram brought his childhood friend and legal advisor Som Mandal to testify on his behalf ldquoThe jury described him as lsquolyingrsquo and lsquonot truthfulrsquo Mandal claimed that his Indian law firm Fox Mandal had employed Micki not Bikram During crossexamination Mandal admitted that he never disclosed the fact that he had an overseas employee to the Indian government or to any tax authorities Meanwhile Bikram testified that he received an lsquoadjustmentrsquo on his invoices from Mandal but could not produce any documents in support of that alleged claim Based on Bikram Choudhuryrsquos testimony Mandal appears to have received substantial revenue and income none reported to any taxing authority either in the US or India It is believed that these matters are under investigationrdquo said MinnardThe jury found him to be lying on all counts ldquoBy the end of the trial the jury was actually laughing at Bikram when he testified about being poor and having no incomerdquo said MinnardSo are there chances of the yoga guru losing his licence ldquoThat will be left to the authorities The case can still be charged by the District Attorney at any point mdash they have simply decided not to move forward at this timerdquo explained MinnardA new beginningToday JafaBodden is ready to move on ldquoFollowing the verdict one of my jurors hugged me and said that she considered me to be lsquoa warrior for womenrsquo Once I have recovered from this ordeal I intend to be of service to the working women of Los Angelesrdquo she signed off